Well, dear readers, day one of casting is completed. It was fascinating. The first fascinating thing is that of the forty-five people who were booked, only just over twenty bothered to show up. I gotta tell you, I just don’t understand actors today. This is an Equity gig, part of the LA Festival Of New Musicals, a known title, and still they shine it on. And I can tell you that I keep a little list of these names and I will never see any of them for any shows – other than the ones who at least write and explain why they missed (unless it’s a lame excuse). If they can’t be bothered to show up for an appointment, can I really trust that they won’t flake at the earliest opportunity? It’s really shocking, but actors today have a whole different “entitled” work ethic – when I was an actor I would never have booked an audition and not shown up because it would not speak well of me as a professional. We saw some interesting people and some not so interesting people, and a couple of real doozies. One gentleman came in to read for my role – he had a good look and I was interested to see how he’d do. For his song, he chose – are you waiting for it – If I Were A Rich Man. This is a kid in his early 20s – what on Earth is he thinking? And, on top of it, he didn’t know the song. At all. He forgot every lyric, laughed about it, and he’d lost the job the minute he’d opened his mouth. His reading was fair, but here was a clear case of an actor shooting himself in the foot. I saw a few potential Juanitas – the roles in this show are very tricky – you have to have a certain energy, you have to be fun, and, most importantly, you have to be likeable. None of the Juanitas had all those qualities rolled into one. Diana Canova had it in spades and I’ve got to find her equivalent. We only saw two potential Harrys today, neither optimal, although my new pal Ted Detweiler gave a quirky and interesting reading and sang beautifully. I’m definitely considering him, but have some reservations. We saw quite a few potential Eunices and several of them will get call backs. Cason was very organized and made the session go very smoothly, and my trusty assistant, Miss Adriana Patti, did so, too. The funniest and most interesting audition today was a potential Dick Davis. The guy was very odd – not a professional actor, and more of a quirky, funny musician (he came in with a sax and a finger piano). The guy who plays Dick in the movie was, in fact, our musical director – when I couldn’t find anyone I liked enough to play the part as it was originally envisioned (young white guy), I looked at Rene Hall one day – Rene was probably sixty at the time and was just so weird that I thought, HE can play Dick. It turned out to be an inspired choice and that’s what we’re looking for in the show. I told the guy to make up his own tunes to the Dick Davis lyrics (I’ve written music for them for the show) and he did and he was really very funny and delivered Dick’s dialogue in a very funny way. He’s definitely being called back, and I just want to make sure he’s got the discipline and commitment – certainly he’ll be right at the top of the list if he does.
After the casting session, we went to Dino’s where we all ate an obscene amount of pizza. And I do mean obscene. After that, I came home and answered a bunch of e-mails, printed out a bunch of orders, and actually managed to watch a motion picture on DVD. The earlier part of the day was filled with errands and e-mails and printing orders and shipping orders. And I did the long jog, too – thank goodness, as I ate so much pizza it wasn’t even funny.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it’s quite late and I now have a lot to do this morning before our second day of casting.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Vibes, starring Jeff Goldblum and Cyndi Lauper. I’d missed it in the theaters because it got bad reviews and looked terrible. But it was written by the team that did Splash, which I love, so I gave it a whirl. While there are some funny one-liners, the film’s tone never settles in, and it just lurches uncomfortably from one scene to another – a funny line here, then fifteen minutes of plot, then another funny line, the thirty minutes of plot. The central plot of the film is just a bore, unfortunately, and Peter Falk is completely wasted. For a comedy, a lot of people needlessly die or get hurt, not the best thing for laughs. The surprise was how much fun Miss Lauper is – she is, in fact, quite delightfully delightful in the film. Goldblum is Goldblum, and the villains are a bore and lightweight. James Horner’s musical score does nothing whatsoever to help. The transfer is very good.
Today, I must do the long jog very early, then head over to USC, where I will be picking up some tapes from a composer’s archive, which we’re going to use for an upcoming CD – it’s a real winner, and we’re hoping there’s even more music on the tapes than was on the original LP. The original LP tapes are lost, so being allowed to use the composer’s original tapes is a fantastically fantastic thing. I’ll then come back here and my tape transfer guy will pick up said tapes and transfer them first thing in the morning, and I’ll return them the next day. After that, it will be time for day two of casting, and that will go till six.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must pick up tapes, I must have tapes picked up, I must have a casting session, and I must eat something LIGHT. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like, and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I get my beauty sleep so I can be ready for all the actors who show up – hopefully none of them will sing If I Were A Rich Man – whether they know it or not.